City Council races in Districts 9, 14 headed for runoffs

Incumbent Philip Kingston is clinging to his District 14 seat on the Dallas City Council. Kingston will face challenger David Blewett in a June 8 runoff after both candidates failed to earn 50 percent of the vote in Saturday’s election.

Blewett, a real estate financier and former SMU football player, won nearly 48 percent of the vote, according to Dallas County Elections results. Kingston followed in second with 40 percent, and Warren Johnson finished third with about 12 percent.

After the election, Blewett thanked supporters on Facebook and asked them mobilize again for the runoff.

Kingston, who is running for his fourth and final term before hitting term limits, was criticized throughout the campaign for his adversarial style and an ongoing ethics complaint. He also had to repay an $8,000 fine for missing too many City Council meetings in 2016 and 2017.

However, the councilman has faced criticism before and still won. In 2013, he beat Blewett in a field of seven candidates to replace outgoing Angela Hunt.

“I think it’s incredibly clear that we didn’t get our message across correctly, and that’s on me,” Kingston told the Dallas Morning News. “I’m the arbiter of that.”

In a field of four candidates, Blackmon led with about 37 percent of the vote, and Moore finished second with nearly 32 percent, according to Dallas County Elections results. Sarah Lamb finished third with 16 percent, and Tami Brown finished fourth with 14 percent.

“This is an amazing achievement, and there’s no way I could have done it without each and every one of you,” Blackmon said on Facebook.

After the election, Moore thanked Lamb and Brown for their engagement in the district and said she was excited for the June 8 runoff.

“I am so proud that our people-powered campaign is headed to the June 8th runoff,” she said on Facebook. “Our election was filled with substantive issues and passionate voters.”

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